Meet Kashawn Willis

We recently connected with Kashawn Willis and have shared our conversation below.

Kashawn, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My work ethic most definitely comes from the people in my family that I grew up around. First example that comes to mind are my parents and seeing how they carried themselves while raising 2 kids. As well as my grandfather who owned his own landscaping business and my grandmother who was a chef (major reason why I wanted to get in the industry myself). Having a front row seat to how they were working, going to work in the hot paint booth with my dad, in the hot Baltimore sun with my grandfather, definitely helped me in the long for when I got to working fulltime myself,

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I would describe my journey as one of a leap of faith as I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first moved to Dallas in 2015. Born in Maryland and growing up in Richmond, all I knew really was the east coast. Taking that leap to come to Dallas at 17 and start my culinary journey was something I did a bit spur of the moment but knowing my work ethic and support system was enough to put me in a position of success. Each and every restaurant I worked at was building block to the next, I would work my way from the ground up and stand out because I wanted to be the best at every stop. I loved a challenge and once I felt like I learned all I could, I would look for the next opportunity to propel me forward in the culinary industry. After covid and progressing enough to the position of a chef, running the day to day in a kitchen, I realized that working for someone else there was always going to be a “cap” of how far I could go. At this point I started to delve into the private chef world and never turned back. There was so much freedom in the creative direction you could go with the food, as well as the personal relationships you gain in all walks of life from the many different clients and one-off events. I try to bring my respect for the highest quality ingredients that are in season with all my dishes and now cater to all of DFW in the form of
-Meal Prep
-Small Boutique Weddings
-Private Dinners/Events
-Pop Ups (Coming VERY soon)

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The 3 qualities that I never compromised on in my journey that I still use to this day are being diligent, teachable and curious.
There were many occasions where I worked with people who would get offended if you knew more than them or were just overall better than them. Being teachable in this industry goes a long way especially with how fast things change in the culinary world. Be willing to ask questions without feeling less than and continue to learn and be curious even when you are not on the clock. Personal growth can take you far in any industry and being willing to learn in your own time separates you from the pack.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Right now, my biggest challenge is finding consistent clients/business which I know is the sign of the times and economy we are in. Sometimes can be discouraging as I want to scale my business but I’m always looking into different sectors I can get into to promote myself and food which makes articles like this so important for me. The more reach I have the better chance I have of getting business so right now just trying to get in front of as many eyes as I can. Whether that be through my social media, popups that I will be doing soon or articles like this, I will keep pushing forward until “Chef Kashawn” is a household name!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefkashawnw/
• Facebook: Eats Elevated By Kashawn Willis
• Youtube: ChefKashawnW